


Tommy Knows: "Muse of Fire"

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Series: Eloquence of a Secret [7]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon-divergence, Angst, Drama, Episode: s1e07 - “Muse of Fire", Friendship, Gen, Secrets, Tommy Knows!, casework, relationship drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: After finally getting a date with Laurel, has Tommy knocked the first domino in his and Oliver's friendship?





	Tommy Knows: "Muse of Fire"

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, its episodes or its characters.  
> Tag: Season 1, Episode 7 - "Muse of Fire"

**aRROW**

Tommy had just managed to get Laurel to agree to go on a real first-date with him when he got the text from Diggle. He was on his way to Starling General when he got another text from the man and he quickly switched directions, heading to the Glades and the Hood's lair in the bowels of Queen Industries Steel Factory soon to be Oliver’s nightclub.

"Oliver?" Tommy came down the stairs and around a pillar, to find Oliver at the computer bank with Diggle standing near in disapproval. "I just heard about your mom. Is she okay?"

"She's at the hospital; concussion, some bruises—they're releasing her tonight." Oliver said.

Tommy stared at him. "And you are here and not at the hospital because...?"

"I talked to Det. Lance at the hospital, he said mom wasn't the target."

"Okay..."

"This guy... Paul Caponi," Oliver brought up a photo of the man who had been the target and killed, "He was trying to close a deal with her when they were shot at. He works for Bertinelli Construction. And Frank Bertinelli."

"The mob boss." Diggle told Tommy at his furrowed brows.

"I did some digging." Oliver continued, "Caponi isn't the first member of Bertinelli's crew who'd been hit."

"You did some digging." Diggle said.

"You did some digging, Oliver." Tommy repeated, too. "Why the hell did you do some digging?"

"Bertinelli has a long list of enemies." Oliver ignored him. "The best way to figure out who's trying to target his organization is to get inside of it." He stood and walked past his best-friend.

"Oliver!" Tommy grabbed his shoulder, jerking him back around. Right now, he didn't care that Oliver could kill him with his pinkie. "Why the hell aren't you at the hospital with your mother?"

"It's fine," Oliver said. "Thea's with her."

"That doesn't matter. You should be there, too."

"You're not processing this emotionally, Oliver." Diggle agreed, standing next to Tommy.

"I'm not trying to process this emotionally." Oliver retorted.

"Maybe that's your problem."

Oliver shook his head. "Bertinelli's on the list--"

"What? So that just automatically means that it has to be you that brings him down? There are hundreds of names on that goddamned list, Oliver!" Tommy shouted. "You cannot honestly believe that you can cross every one off before this whole things gets you killed. Can't you just let the cops do their job for once?" he demanded. "Go be with your family!"

"I tried that!" Oliver shouted back in a moment of lost control. He continued in a tighter, more constrained volume, "Thea openly accused me of lying and she was right. I can't very well tell her that I left our mother alone and bleeding on the pavement because I wasn't fast enough to almost rundown the attacker. So, yes; I am going after Bertinelli because this _is_ something I can do to protect my family. And when I find the guy who did this —he's a dead man." He turned and left the lair.

Tommy sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand over his face. "And I didn't even get to tell him that Laurel and I are going on a date." He muttered.

"Now's not the time, man." Diggle told him.

"Yeah?" Tommy said, looking up. "And what happens when he hears it from someone else? No, it has to come from me."

**X**

"Oliver--" Tommy started.

"Sorry, Tommy, I can't talk. I’ve got a business thing."

"A business thing, really?" he looked up and down at his friend's attire, a collared shirt and tie. "I'll walk you to your vehicle of choice then, because there's something we need to talk about."

Oliver sighed and walked the path. "The discussion from the lair is finished. I've made up my mind."

"It most definitely isn't over," Tommy countered. "But I know I can't change your mind from this whole infiltration thing you plan on doing. But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it, then?"

"Laurel--"

Oliver groaned. "Tommy!"

"I asked her out on a date."

Oliver stopped short, still. But said nothing.

Tommy forced himself to continue. "She said yes. I wanted to tell you before you found it out from someone else—especially from Laurel. I understand that it's weird, but I think that there is something here and I wanted to give it a shot—a chance. I'm not asking your permission, I'm just giving you forewarning."

Oliver gave a sharp inhale through his nose. "That's good, Tommy. Laurel deserves someone special and so do you. I gotta run." He closed the distance to the jag and got in. The engine roared to life.

Tires squealed. Tommy watched the car peel from the parking lot and wondered if he was ever going to get a real reaction out of his friend or if it was always just going to be this controlled, contained, 'zen' bullshit.

**X**

The date had gone good. Better than good. Tommy would have went as far as to say... excellent. They talked, they joked, they laughed. Then his card was declined and cut—Laurel had to pay for dinner. And he was just confused and humiliated. He was the son of a billionaire, he didn't get card-cut!

His visit with his father just added more humiliation and righteousness. There was nothing wrong with the accounts—his father had simply cut him off. But there was no ‘simple’ about it. He now had access to no accounts, the only money to his name was the cash in his wallet. His father's answer to his demand of _What The Hell, Dad?!_ had been _Why Not Sooner._ And he hadn't even done anything lately to piss his father off, tarnish the Merlyn name. And since Oliver came back he'd been especially law-abiding—which was ironic seeing as Oliver was the vigilante. 

**...**

"Det. Lance," Tommy greeted in surprise as he passed the man on the drive to the door. He got a hostile grimace in return. "He try and arrest you again, or what?" he hooked a thumb over his shoulder as Oliver let him in.

"Warning me off Helena Bertinelli," Oliver said ironically.

Tommy's brow furrowed at the name. "The mob boss' daughter?" he asked in a hushed tone. Oliver nodded, leading Tommy into the empty reading room. He shut the door. " _That_ is your idea of  infiltrating this guy's operation?" he was incredulous.

"The opportunity presented itself and I took advantage," Oliver defended his decision.

Tommy shook his head. "And how exactly is she supposed to get you the information about the shooter that almost killed your mom?"

"Very useful, actually," Oliver answered, "Seeing as the shooter is her?"

"What? That's--"

"Crazy? Yeah."

"But... why?"

Oliver sighed. "We're still trying to figure that out. What could be her motive for attacking her own family?"

"I can sympathize," Tommy muttered.

"Tommy?" he was surprised at his friend's tone.

Tommy sighed and sat on the edge of the recliner. "That's why I came over. I-- my dad cut me off last night."

"What?" Oliver sat on the arm of the adjacent recliner.

"Talked with him this morning." He scoffed. "With no warning he cut off my access to the account, cancelled my credit cards. I have to be out of my apartment by the end of the month. My car was repossessed—I had to take a cab here for God's sake! Do you know how much that cost?" he gave a humourless chuckle. "I never really had to care before. My dad is such a bastard!" he put his head in his hands in shame, "What am I supposed to do now, Ollie. He's screwed me!"

Oliver put a hand on his shoulder. "You know my trust fund is your trust fund, Tommy." He said sincerely. "And, you know you can always stay here if you need a place to crash."

"Really?" Tommy rose his head.

Oliver nodded. "I'll talk to mom when she's feeling better. God knows we have enough spare rooms." He stood.

"You're a really good friend, Oliver." Tommy pulled Oliver into a hug. He was a little stiff, but a couple seconds later, he hugged back, thumping his back. "It'll be just like when we were kids." He pulled back.

"Yeah."

"So?" Tommy asked. "What are you going to do about Helena?"

"I'll take care of it," he answered quietly.

Tommy sighed internally. _Oliver knows what he's doing. Now I just gotta get **my** act together._

**aRROW**

**Author's Note:**

> I know it seemed anticlimactic, but I have some plans for the next episode in my head that will hopefully translate well on the keyboard.  
> After re-watching **Episode 10 “Burned”** I realized Oliver’s Lair was in the Verdant basement from the beginning. I don’t know why, I just always thought it was in the abandoned steel factory in the beginning, then after the club was finished moved it there. I can’t believe I never seemed to make the connection that the steel factory **is** Verdant.


End file.
